The Frozen Heart
by Vicktaru
Summary: Frozen in the modern world. A writing exercise for an IT Specialist with delusions of grandeur about writing.
1. Chapter 1

"No! Buzz Lightyear can't be beat by Woody! He has lasers! Elsa, they're lasers!" Idun smiled as her children made a general mess of things, Mr. Potato Head pieces over here, Woody over there, and that slinky dog that she never quite understood.

"Okay Anna, I get it, _lasers."_ the elder sister responded with air quotes.

"That's enough girls, mom may not have lasers, but she has another power, THE POWER OF BED TIME! WOOOOOO!" The children shrieked gleefully as Idun chased them around the family room, tickling the sisters, as she took one in each arm. "Oof, you girls are getting big, mommy's not going to be able to carry you for much longer."

"That's okay, daddy can still carry us!" Anna said, burrowing her head into her mother's neck.

"I can walk mom." responded Elsa, squirming for her freedom. Once let down Elsa carefully fixed the wrinkles of her clothes as she strolled to her room.

"Now I wonder where she gets that from?" Idun said with a smile, bringing young Anna to her room and tucking her into bed.

"Mommy, tell me a story!" Demanded Anna from her sheets.

"Alright rosebud, but just one. Long ago when your great great grandpapa lived in Norway he used to cut ice from the mountains. He would bring it down during the summer so that the people of Arendelle could keep their food cold. One year the summer was hotter than usual, so he had to go farther up the mountain than he's ever gone before! It was a long and dangerous trip, and he almost ran out of food just on the way up! He had no idea of how he was going to get back down again."

"But great great grandpapa lived! He has to mommy!"

"Yes rosebud, you see when he got to the top of the mountain he found a palace made of ice and being a brave man he knocked on the door. Legends say that in this castle lives The Ice Queen, and the people of Arendelle say that The Ice Queen has a frozen heart and will eat the heart of any man that comes to see her to steal their warmth!" Anna slid under her covers with that line and curled up next to her mother. "But not to fear Anna, your great great grandpapa didn't come to fight the Ice Queen. He came with respect and greeted the Ice Queen and explained his predicament."

"Perdicamend?"

"Predicament, his problem. He asked the Ice Queen for permission to take some of the ice from near her castle. The Ice Queen, who had spent her entire life fighting heroes who came to fight her, or would be princes that came to win her heart was so moved by this simple man just trying to make a living that she showed him her magic and made him a whole bunch of ice. Not only that, but she told him that he could come back for ice whenever he wanted!"

"The Ice Queen wasn't bad?"

"No one is really bad rosebud Great great grandpapa knew that. He kept coming back to visit the Ice Queen, at first just during the summer, then more and more often. They say in Arendelle that he thawed her frozen heart, and few years later she came down from her castle with him and married him, and they lived happily ever after!"

"Mommy, there isn't any such thing as an Ice Queen!"

"Well just don't tell that to your father, it was his favorite story as a boy." Idun gave her younger daughter a kiss on the forehead and turned out the light before making her way to Elsa's room. Not surprising she found Elsa already changed into her pajamas and laying in her well made bed with her nose in a book.

"Looks like you found your own bed time, huh story princess?" Idun ran her fingers through Elsa's long blonde hair.

"I can read on my own mom, I don't need silly stories to put me to bed." Idun kissed her forehead as well as she left and headed back down to the den where her maid was finishing placing all of the toys into an antique chest near the love seat.

"Oh Gerda, you didn't have to do that, I would have made the children clean up after themselves tomorrow."

"They're children, they play and make messes, why don't we let them while they're still young."

"I think you're going to spoil my children more than I do. Why don't you take off for the night Gerda, it's late. Say hello to Kai for me."

"Of course, I'll see you tomorrow then Mrs. Menzel."

"See you tomorrow Gerda."

* * *

Idun made her way down to the basement and poured a glass of her favorite Cru Beaujolais. Back upstairs in the living room the exhausted mother sprawled upon her Rigoletto sofa and started Netflix. Another hour and another glass of wine went by before the door unlocked and Agdar found his way into the living room. Idun greeted him with a smile while he straightened out his clothes and carefully removed his sports jacket and shirt, meticulously folding each item and laying it over the sofa to be collected later. Agdar slid over his wife with a smile, pushing his lips against hers with a longing kiss.

"It's good to be home baby."

"Welcome home, I think the children are already asleep."

"I'll make it up to them over the weekend." Her husband said with a long stare into her eyes and a soft smile. "I always do."

"Somehow..." She agreed, trailing off as his lips brushed against hers before trailing off down her neck.


	2. Chapter 2

The large brick building was the quiescence of Forrest Hills, blending in flawlessly with the million dollar homes surrounding it The School in the Gardens was quieting down at the end of the day, inside Elsa dribbled a basketball rhythmically, leaning in left before spinning to her right, she stepped around the Center. With a dancer's grace the ball was scooped up into both hands and passed off to Flynn, just below the hoop. She smiled as he makes the shot and ran up to her for a high-five. Elsa's breathing was heavy, yet she wasn't sweating. Practice was ending for the co-ed team as Anna came onto the court, running to her sister as the gymnasium cleared.

"Elsa, Elsa! Mister Weselton had us write our own fairy tales today, I wrote about great great grandpapa and the Ice Queen!" Elsa smiled, roughly rubbing Anna's bright red hair. It had been years since their mother had first told Anna that story, yet it remained her favorite.

"Mom should be here soon, why don't you start your homework?"

"I don't want to start my homework, teach me how to play basketball! I want to join the team too!"

"You have to be in fifth grade before you can join Anna." Elsa crossed her arms and attempted a stern look. "You should really do your homework, mother will be upset if it isn't done before dinner, father is going to be home tonight."

"Daddy's going to be home?" Anna jumped up and down as she ran off to the bleachers and opened her backpack. "Okay, I'll work on it!"

A quiet laugh escaped Elsa's lips as Flynn waved over to her. "Looks like my dad's late too, let's do some one on one!" Elsa gave the boy a challenging smirk, the girl had grown over a foot in the last year and now towered over most of the boys her age. Somehow this only seemed to excite them all the more. Flynn passed the ball over to her and Elsa started making her way towards the goal. The boy's arms went up on either side of her, trying to box her in; the boy practically stood on top of her as she tried to find an opening. "Not gonna get past me like that again Miss Lebron." Elsa took a step back away from him, her breathing heavy and eyes beady as she dribbled with a single hand, her other reached out to keep Flynn at bay. He pushed in forcefully, knocking Elsa over as he grabbed the ball and ran it to the other side of the court for a layup. "BOOM SHAKALAKA!" He yelled out running back up the court to Elsa. "Got you that time girl!"

Elsa got up slowly, rubbing her butt where she landed. "That's not how you play." Elsa's tone did not convey the amusement Flynn seemed to be having.

"Oh come on, don't be stuck up, I'm just playing with you." He tossed the ball back to Elsa hard enough that it stung her hands. Her face began to flush red.

"All you're doing is acting like a jerk, we're done." Elsa said as she wiped any dust from her shorts, her hands trembling. "Come on Anna, let's wait for mom outside.

"Come on, we were just playing, you don't have to be all bitchy about it!" As he grabbed her shoulder Elsa spun around and gave the boy a shove, her hand turning an crystalline blue on contact as Flynn slid back several feet, his shirt covered in frost, his breathing heavy; the temperature on the court dropped as Elsa's breathing became more and more rapid, a handful of snowflakes forming within the room.

The commotion bought the coach, running from his office. "What the..." he trailed off shivering as he helped Flynn off the floor. "Something must be up with the thermostat, are you two alright?"

"Fine coach." Flynn replied as he brushed the frozen sweat from his shirt where Elsa's hand had touched him, giving her a confused look.

"Everything is okay coach." Elsa agreed with a deep breath. "Come on Anna." As Elsa's heart rate returned to normal the room started to warm again, by the time the sisters had left the gymnasium what was once a handful of snowflakes became indistinguishable from the drippings of sweat from practice.


	3. Chapter 3

"And it was snowing, INSIDE mom!" Anna's excitement couldn't be controlled, alternatively Elsa seemed to shrink into a ball in the heated passenger seat.

"You have the heat way up dear, are you okay?" Her mother asked as she ran her fingers through Elsa's hair, surprised to find her daughter frigid. "Oh my god, you're freezing! I'm turning on the heater."

"No, mother, I feel fine." Elsa responded. "Anna is exaggerating, as usual." Her gaze to her sister was as cold as her skin. "There was just a bit of an issue with the thermostat. I'll be okay, the chair is warming me enough."

* * *

Anna hopped out of the car before it came to a complete stop, her mother yelling from within the vehicle. "Daddy!" Anna cried out as ran into the house. Agdar was waiting within and lifted her in both hands, spinning her around.

"You keep getting bigger and bigger on me rosebud!"

"Dad, I'm nine years old, I'm not a rosebud!"

"Oh, so you're in full bloom now?"

"No, I'm Anna! Ah-na!" She vocalized the syllables, giggling as Agdar put her down.

"Work let you out at a reasonable hour for once father." Elsa said with her a soft smiile.

"It sounds like they had a serious issue with the thermostat at the gym while Elsa was practicing. You should feel your daughter, she's freezing!" Expressed Elsa's mother.

"I'm fine now mother, really." She replied.

Agdar came to his eldest daughter, taking her hands into his own, covering them before touching her brow. "She feels fine to me, must have warmed back up in the car."

Idun checked her daughter's forehead again as well . "I guess so." Her reply was doubtful, her look confused as she watched Elsa's bright blue eyes.

* * *

A savory scent filled the air at dinner as the family cut at their steaks, the marbleized pink and grey meat coated conservatively with fond accompanied by a small salad with strawberries and pecans. Anna's attention was on her father the entire time, telling him about school and how she used their family story about the Ice Queen for her assignment on fairy tales. The conversation peaked Elsa's interest, and to her father's surprise she started to show interest in the story.

"Father?" Elsa started, lightly dabbing her lips with a napkin. "What was great grandma's name?"

"I think her name was Caecilia, I never met her. Your grandparents had already moved to the U.S. before I was born, and we never could afford to visit Norway. We got a letter sometime in the seventies from grandpa saying she had passed away, I think she had lived into her eighties or nineties. I remember grandpa saying how unusual it was to marry an older woman at the time, but that his father always treated her like a queen, or as close to it as they could afford."

"Where did all the story of her powers come from?" Asked Elsa, her hands grasping together and rubbing each other under the table.

"Well, that's an interesting question from you. Anna could probably tell the story as well as I do by now, but they say that she used to live up in the mountains, and that when grandpa met her he was the first person to treat her well and they ended up falling in love. As to where her powers came from, I never heard any explanation. Grandpa used to tell me that whenever he had a fever though that she could just touch him and his temperature would drop, or that during the winter she would make sure that their house was never snowed in, things like that. Grandma used to say that she just took care of him when he was sick and made great grandpa shovel the snow before the kids would wake and grandpa would get worked up about it." Adgar smiled at the memories. "No one ever talked about where it came from though. Grandma always figured that Caecilia was some farmers daughter or something, she said it was a Swedish name, that the family must have migrated or something. Grandpa would say that it was an old name and that his mother's people had lived in those mountains for generations surviving because of their powers. I always got the feeling that your grandmother didn't care much for her mother in law. I still have some old things of grandpa's, after dinner we can go through them, Anna would like to see them too I'm sure."

Anna practically jumped out of her seat at the idea. "I said AFTER dinner sweetheart." Her father restated as he placed his fork to the left of his plate. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

* * *

Agdar took the girls to the basement while Idun greeted Greda at the front door. The space was just open enough not to feel cluttered despite the multitude of filing cabinets and boxes that stacked close to the ceiling. A well lit room, Adgar led his children back to one of the stacks of boxes, each labeled; Elsa's Toys was removed off the top, then went Cancun 1983 followed by Father's Items. Anna sneezed as the dust was wiped from the top and her father flicked her nose playfully. The smell of old cardboard and paper was strong, Elsa thought it likely this box had not been disturbed since it was covered in eighty-three, over twenty years ago. A photo album immediately grabs Elsa's attention and she begins flipping through it. "Is this Caecilia?" She asks, looking at a yellowed image that was eerily similar to her reflection, although with slightly more rounded facial features.

"Looks like you got her hair Elsa." Her father smiled as he ran his fingers through that very same platinum blonde hair that Elsa was looking at in the picture. The photos were preserved surprisingly well for their age, however there was no question time had done its work. Discoloration, wrinkles and tears littered the pictures as Elsa flipped through page after page of another person's life. A second picture caught her attention causing the girl to go wide eyed, an expression not common on her face. "What is it sweetie?" Her father asked as he looked down and let out a small gasp himself.

There it was, the photo wrinkled and yellowed, yet there was no denying that in that shot was a castle, not an igloo or the reality of an exaggeration, but a castle, complete with palisades towers and a moat, all appearing to be fashioned out of ice similar in height to a ten story building. In front of that picture stood Caecilia and on the bottom in fading black ink was written Sommer 1919. "Amazing." Agdar said as he ran his fingers over the covered photo. "It must have taken her family years to do that, no wonder people thought that she was magic. Could you imagine what it would have been like for a simple ice supplier to come across something like this? Grandpa, you never stood a chance did you? You never do against a great woman." Agdar smiled as he spoke softly to himself. "Well Elsa, I think we can see where the legends started."

Elsa nodded her head as her eyes went back to the contents of the box, Anna stared, her mouth agape at the photo as her father passed her the album. Letters and scattered pictures lay haphazardly, many of them torn and cracked. One item seemed to be in relatively good shape, a leather covered book, likely hand bound over one hundred years ago. "Do you mind if I take this with me father?" Elsa asked as she carefully lifted the volume. "I know it's old, I'll be careful with the pages."

"Sure thing dear, it's not like it was going to do anything other than sit in the box anyway. Just... try and be as careful as possible. A lot of this are things your grandfather left to us, and it seems that includes things his father left to him. Old things are delicate things, even for one as meticulous as you Elsa." Agdar took his young daughter's face gently into his hand and kissed her cheek. "Now, why don't we go back upstairs. Greda is probably done cleaning up after dinner and I bet she would love to see you girls.

"I'm going to tell her all about the ice castle!" Anna squealed, bounding out of the basement two steps at a time with the album still in hand.

"I'm surprised she was so quiet." Elsa said, walking at her father's side at a far more deliberate pace.

"Anna is a sweet girl, you don't give her enough credit Elsa. She knew this was important to you. You're both little angels, just in different ways. Perhaps you can tell me why it became so important though?" Her father's smile was disarming as always and Elsa quickly diverted her eyes to the journal.

"Anna made me curious when she told me that she managed to write an entire assignment about the story." Elsa smiled as she opened the front cover of the book. "What was great grandpa's name dad?"

"Gjurd I believe."

Inside the front cover read Min Journal Gjurd 1918-1937.


End file.
